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David Avery Art

American, b. 1952
David Avery has been creating finely detailed black and white etchings in San Francisco for twenty five years. Originally trained as a classical musician, he discovered etching almost by accident in a class at the local community college. After learning the basic techniques, he intently pursued his own course of discovery--being essentially -self taught. Over--the years, he has, developed an exceptional technique and has created a remarkable body of finely wrought miniature etchings and drypoints. David Avery continues to explore the expressive and technical possibilities inherent in black and white line etching. His work is included in the collections of the Fogg Museum at Harvard University, the New York Public Library, the Achenbach Foundation for the Graphic Arts, the Stanford University Library among others, and has been noted in the New York Times. Even though “black and white doesn’t sell”, he has eschewed the use of color, finding the subtleties and tonalities of black and white most capable of creating the psychological mood that allows his work to be effective. Public Collections: Library of Congress The Fogg Museum of Fine Arts, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA The Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts, San Francisco, CA Stanford University Library, Special Collections, Stanford, CA The Turner Print Gallery, California State University, Chico, CA The Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, D.C. St. Mary’s College, Moraga, CA New York Public Library, New York, NY San Francisco Public Library, Book Arts and Special Collections Center Lakeview Museum Permanent Collection, Peoria, IL Arkansas State University Permanent Collection, AR Purdue University Galleries Bradbury Art Museum, Jonesboro, AR Kellogg University Art Gallery, Pomona, CA
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A Post-Traumatic History Lesson

A Post-Traumatic History Lesson

By David Avery

Located in Palm Springs, CA

Signed and numbered from the edition of 30. Avery's prints often mix elements of satire, myth and legend with his own light touch of surrealism. David Avery continues to explore the expressive and technical possibilities inherent in black and white line etching...

Category

Early 2000s David Avery Art

Materials

Etching

Departure - The Eye Like a Strange Ballon
Departure - The Eye Like a Strange Ballon

Departure - The Eye Like a Strange Ballon

By David Avery

Located in Palm Springs, CA

Medium: Etching Year: 2022 Edition Size: 35 Image Size: 8.088 x 6.75 inches Paper Size: Zerkall Copperplate Cream (yellow) (15" x 12") An hommage to Odilon Redon's 1878 print Eye-Ba...

Category

2010s David Avery Art

Materials

Etching

Death and the Printmaker — Allegorical Etching by David Avery
Death and the Printmaker — Allegorical Etching by David Avery

Death and the Printmaker — Allegorical Etching by David Avery

By David Avery

Located in Palm Springs, CA

Signed, titled and numbered from the edition of 30. One of several recent prints by Avery that continue to win awards and purchase by museums and public collections. Surrealistic ima...

Category

2010s Contemporary David Avery Art

Materials

Etching

The Frailty of Realization, by David Avery
The Frailty of Realization, by David Avery

The Frailty of Realization, by David Avery

By David Avery

Located in Palm Springs, CA

David Avery’s etching The Frailty of Realization is a dense, labyrinthine image that immerses the viewer in a surreal chamber overflowing with objects, textures, and symbolic fragmen...

Category

2010s Contemporary David Avery Art

Materials

Etching

A Kind of Flying -The Invisible Hand
A Kind of Flying -The Invisible Hand

A Kind of Flying -The Invisible Hand

By David Avery

Located in Palm Springs, CA

Medium: Etching Year: 2021 Edition Size: 25 Image Size: 4.5 x 9.75 inches One of several recent prints by Avery that continue to win awards and purchase by museums and public collec...

Category

2010s Contemporary David Avery Art

Materials

Etching

Becalmed, by David Avery
Becalmed, by David Avery

Becalmed, by David Avery

By David Avery

Located in Palm Springs, CA

Apocalyptic etching of a sailing ship beached in a desert and captained by a skeleton - a rumination on our situation in our new post-rational world. Avery's work is characterized b...

Category

2010s Contemporary David Avery Art

Materials

Etching

Ship of Fools (Das Narrenschiff), by David Avery
Ship of Fools (Das Narrenschiff), by David Avery

Ship of Fools (Das Narrenschiff), by David Avery

By David Avery

Located in Palm Springs, CA

Signed and numbered from the edition of 35. Avery's prints often mix elements of satire, myth and legend with his own light touch of surrealism. The ship of fools is an allegory firs...

Category

2010s Contemporary David Avery Art

Materials

Etching

A Ticket to Ride
A Ticket to Ride

A Ticket to Ride

By David Avery

Located in Palm Springs, CA

Signed and numbered fro the edition of 30. Satire on the follies lead to conflict. Avery's signature surreal take on a knight on the charge against his own reflection. David Avery c...

Category

Early 2000s Contemporary David Avery Art

Materials

Etching

TThe Long Road to War — Panoramic Political Satirical Print by David Avery

TThe Long Road to War — Panoramic Political Satirical Print by David Avery

By David Avery

Located in Palm Springs, CA

A panoramic, sharply satirical print that unfolds as a continuous narrative procession. Figures, vehicles, animals, and symbols move relentlessly across the horizontal composition, f...

Category

Early 2000s Contemporary David Avery Art

Materials

Etching

In Absentia - Al Mutanabbi Street 2007
In Absentia - Al Mutanabbi Street 2007

In Absentia - Al Mutanabbi Street 2007

By David Avery

Located in Palm Springs, CA

Medium: Etching Year: 2014 Edition Size: 20 Image Size: 4 x 10.25 inches The subtitle for this print is Al Mutanabbi Street, 2007. That is when a suicide bomber attacked this street...

Category

2010s Contemporary David Avery Art

Materials

Etching

Nonsense on Stilts (24/40)

Nonsense on Stilts (24/40)

By David Avery

Located in Palm Springs, CA

Signed and numbered from the edition of 40. Avery's prints often mix elements of satire, myth and legend with his own light touch of surrealism. Social satire on the human condition, showing the precarious balance that keeps things moving forward with all our human foibles. David Avery continues to explore the expressive and technical possibilities inherent in black and white line etching...

Category

Early 2000s Contemporary David Avery Art

Materials

Etching

Surrealist Etching: The Last Roundup, Signed, Edition of 30, 2010+
Surrealist Etching: The Last Roundup, Signed, Edition of 30, 2010+

Surrealist Etching: The Last Roundup, Signed, Edition of 30, 2010+

By David Avery

Located in Palm Springs, CA

Medium: Etching EditionSize: 30 ImageSize: 6.88 x 5.88 inches Year: 2017 The Last Roundup is a richly layered allegorical etching by David Avery, centered on a skeletal figure astride a mechanical contraption that merges agricultural imagery with instruments of industry and war. The skeletal rider raises a hat in a gesture that is part salute, part farewell, evoking themes of mortality, inevitability, and the closing of an era. Around the central figure, fragmented scenes of destruction, absurdity, and survival unfold—barrels burst, machines falter, and hybrid creatures scatter across a desolate landscape. Avery's prints often mix elements of satire, myth and legend with his own light touch of surrealism. This skeleton is riding an oil pump...

Category

2010s Surrealist David Avery Art

Materials

Etching

The Coming of the Cocklicranes, No. 4 (Winter), by David Avery
The Coming of the Cocklicranes, No. 4 (Winter), by David Avery

The Coming of the Cocklicranes, No. 4 (Winter), by David Avery

By David Avery

Located in Palm Springs, CA

Signed and numbered from the edition of 20. This is the fourth in a series of 4 prints. David Avery continues to explore the expressive and technical possibilities inherent in black and white line...

Category

2010s Surrealist David Avery Art

Materials

Etching

Concerning the Great Ship MOUR-DE-ZENCLE — Framed Etching by David Avery
Concerning the Great Ship MOUR-DE-ZENCLE — Framed Etching by David Avery

Concerning the Great Ship MOUR-DE-ZENCLE — Framed Etching by David Avery

By David Avery

Located in Palm Springs, CA

Description David Avery’s Concerning The Great Ship MOUR-DE-ZENCLE is a finely detailed black-and-white etching that exemplifies the artist’s masterful command of line and surreal symbolism. Avery frequently blends mythology, literary reference, and historical imagery, and here he draws inspiration from Alfred Jarry...

Category

2010s Contemporary David Avery Art

Materials

Etching

The Coming of the Cocklicranes, No. 1 (Spring), by David Avery
The Coming of the Cocklicranes, No. 1 (Spring), by David Avery

The Coming of the Cocklicranes, No. 1 (Spring), by David Avery

By David Avery

Located in Palm Springs, CA

Signed and numbered from the edition of 20. This is the first in a series of 4 prints based. David Avery continues to explore the expressive and technical possibilities inherent in black and white line...

Category

2010s Surrealist David Avery Art

Materials

Etching

Encore!, etching by David Avery of skeleton playing a pianc
Encore!, etching by David Avery of skeleton playing a pianc

Encore!, etching by David Avery of skeleton playing a pianc

By David Avery

Located in Palm Springs, CA

Signed, titled and numbered from the edition of 25. A skeleton in formal wear plays a grand piano, surrounded by a surrealistic collage of symbols and scenes of a chaotic world. David Avery continues to explore the expressive and technical possibilities inherent in black and white line etching...

Category

2010s Contemporary David Avery Art

Materials

Etching

Runner (Mom, Death and the Devil), etching by David Avery
Runner (Mom, Death and the Devil), etching by David Avery

Runner (Mom, Death and the Devil), etching by David Avery

By David Avery

Located in Palm Springs, CA

Signed and numbered fro the edition of 30. An homage to both Max Klinger's surreal “Cupid, Death, and the Beyond”, and Albrecht Durer's "Knight, Death and the Devil". A young mother ...

Category

2010s Contemporary David Avery Art

Materials

Etching

Safe, Clean, Cheap
Safe, Clean, Cheap

Safe, Clean, Cheap

By David Avery

Located in Palm Springs, CA

Signed, titled and numbered by the artist from the edition of 30. referring to man's disregard for the world around him, and the resulting damage to climate and environment, the text...

Category

2010s David Avery Art

Materials

Etching

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Venus Lamenting over the Death of Adonis

Venus Lamenting over the Death of Adonis

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Previously Available Items
After the Deluge, by David Avery
After the Deluge, by David Avery

After the Deluge, by David Avery

By David Avery

Located in Palm Springs, CA

A rumination on our situation in our new post-rational world. David Avery's etching "After the Deluge" is a piece that explores themes of post-rationalism and the aftermath of societ...

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2010s Contemporary David Avery Art

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Because It Is There
Because It Is There

Because It Is There

By David Avery

Located in Palm Springs, CA

Signed, titled and numbered from the edition of 30. One of several recent prints by Avery that continue to win awards and purchase by museums and public collections. Surrealistic ima...

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Running on Empty, by David Avery
Running on Empty, by David Avery

Running on Empty, by David Avery

By David Avery

Located in Palm Springs, CA

Signed and numbered from the edition of 30. This is one of four prints in a series of prints based on the sixteenth century engraver Hendrick Goltzius' "The Four Disgracers". The tex...

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A Kind of Flying -The Invisible Hand
A Kind of Flying -The Invisible Hand

A Kind of Flying -The Invisible Hand

By David Avery

Located in Palm Springs, CA

Signed, titled and numbered from the edition of 25. One of several recent prints by Avery that continue to win awards and purchase by museums and public collections. Surrealistic ima...

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2010s Contemporary David Avery Art

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The Frailty of Realization

The Frailty of Realization

By David Avery

Located in Palm Springs, CA

Signed, titled and numbered from the edition of 40. One of several recent prints by Avery that continue to win awards and purchase by museums and public collections. The title of th...

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2010s Contemporary David Avery Art

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Awaiting a Time Like the Present (3/35)

Awaiting a Time Like the Present (3/35)

By David Avery

Located in Palm Springs, CA

Signed and numbered from the edition of 35. Avery's prints often mix elements of satire, myth and legend with his own light touch of surrealism. References to classical artists and p...

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2010s Contemporary David Avery Art

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Ship of Fools (Das Narrenschiff)

Ship of Fools (Das Narrenschiff)

By David Avery

Located in Palm Springs, CA

Signed and numbered from the edition of 35. Avery's prints often mix elements of satire, myth and legend with his own light touch of surrealism. The ship of fools...

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Concerning The Great Ship MOUR-DE-ZENCLE

Concerning The Great Ship MOUR-DE-ZENCLE

By David Avery

Located in Palm Springs, CA

Signed and numbered from the edition of 20. Avery's prints often mix elements of myth, legend and history with his own light touch of surrealism. David Avery continues to explore th...

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Concerning The Great Ship MOUR-DE-ZENCLE

Concerning The Great Ship MOUR-DE-ZENCLE

By David Avery

Located in Palm Springs, CA

Signed and numbered from the edition of 20. Avery's prints often mix elements of myth, legend and history with his own light touch of surrealism. David Avery continues to explore th...

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2010s Contemporary David Avery Art

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Etching

David Avery art for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic David Avery art available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by David Avery in etching and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 21st century and contemporary and is mostly associated with the contemporary style. Not every interior allows for large David Avery art, so small editions measuring 2 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of David Gilhooly, Roman Sustov, and Pierre-Yves Trémois. David Avery art prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $200 and tops out at $850, while the average work can sell for $500.

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